Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: II Cor. 13: 5-10 July 14, 2024

Message: “Testing Ourselves!”

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro: 1. Last week we learned about Paul’s thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to harass him, to keep him humble.

a. We know God often disciplines to help us get our lives straightened out; now we have learned that He also allows us to experience hardships so that He can get all the glory when He helps us..

b. As Paul put it in II Cor. 12:10,  “When I am weak, then I am strong!” Or as God put it in II Cor. 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

2. Since God uses our problems in more than one way, we must be careful how we judge others. It only makes sense, therefore, for Paul to close this book with an admonition.  In II Cor. 13:5, he wrote: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves!”

3. In the end, it doesn’t matter what I think or you think. What matters is what God says. My job on a Sunday morning is to explain to you what God says. After that, it is up to you to apply it to your own life.

A. A true Christian is blessed! We are blessed because the Holy Spirit of Jesus lives inside of us.

1. So the most important place to begin concerns this very important question. In II Cor. 13: 5, after asking us to test ourselves, Paul immediately adds: “Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless of course you fail the test?”

a. In Rom. 8:9, it says: “You are controlled, not by your sinful nature, but by the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit lives in you. If anyone does not have the Holy Spirit, he does not belong to Christ!”

b. In Rom. 8: 13, Paul continues: “If you live according to your sinful nature, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the sinful nature, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

2. No one is born a Christian. As we grow up, it is a decision that we must make. No one can make this decision for us. The good news is that Jesus always takes the first step.

a. In fact, by dying on the cross, He already took the first step. He already paid the penalty for our sins for us. The Bible says: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us “(Rom. 5: 8)

b. But Jesus also takes the first step by speaking to our hearts. In John 16: 8, Jesus said: “When the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world of guilt caused by their sin…”  God calls this our conscience. If we listen when the Holy Spirit convicts us, then we know we need to be forgiven.

c. “If we confess our sins, He will be faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous-ness” (I John 1:9).

3. In John 3:8, Jesus said: “The wind blows where it will… So it is with the Holy Spirit.”  If a person listens to the Holy Spirit, then Jesus offers to give us His Holy Spirit to live in our hearts.  If we ask, we shall receive.  

a. In fact, Jesus said: “Just as a good father gives good gifts to his children, so your heavenly Father will give His Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13).

b. That is how a person is born again. Jesus comes to live in our hearts by giving us His Holy Spirit to live in our hearts. 

4. So in our passage, when Paul encouraged them to examine themselves, the most important question we all must ask ourselves is:  “Have we asked Jesus to forgive our sins and to come and live in our hearts through the presence of His Holy Spirit?”

 5. If the answer is yes, then we are off to a good start.

B. That is just the beginning of the Christian life. 

1.  Just as a new born baby has a lot to learn, so does a new born Christian. Jesus teaches us how to live the Christian life in a variety of ways. 

a. It begins with listening to Jesus’ Holy Spirit living in your heart.  If we will, He will continue to teach us what is right and wrong as we learn to say “no” to wrong behavior and “yes” to how Jesus wants us to live instead. 

b. But Jesus also has helpers.  

2. Jesus is the key to the Scriptures. His Holy Spirit inspired the writers who gave us God’s Word. God’s Word has been made available to Christians in every generation.

3. Not only that, but Jesus has other disciples, other Christians who also have the Holy Spirit in their hearts.  More mature Christians like pastors and teachers have been chosen by God to help us learn what the Bible says.

a. But listen carefully to what I just said. The bottom line is not what I say. It is what the Bible says.

b. Many false teachers have gone out into the world and are not teaching you what the Bible says.

4. That is because Satan is alive and well and often comes “as an angel of light.” That means Satan deliberately leads us away from God’s Word while claiming to teach you God’s Word.

a. Paul warned us that in the last days, teachers would come who would tell people what they wanted to hear instead of what God has said.

b. That is exactly what was happening in Corinth! False teachers were saying Paul was not teaching them the truth. But Paul was the one who did miracles and led them to the truth.  

5. We have all seen children go from mommy who said no to ask daddy who says yes. Immature Christians often do the same thing. If one pastor says something is wrong, they go looking for a pastor who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear.

a. We must always go back to what the Bible says. We must always listen to the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

b. As Paul put it: “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God” (Rom. 8:13). 

In Conclusion: 1. We all must test ourselves and make sure the Holy Spirit of Jesus is in our hearts.  We must all make sure we learn what the Bible says so we are not led astray.

2. The false teachers claimed Paul was all wet. So Paul wrote this letter to commend himself to the congregation all over again. While he was willing to suffer and die for what he believed and knew was true, the false teachers were simply using the people for their own ends. 

3. In II Cor. 13: 6-8, Paul says: “I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray that you will do nothing wrong…. For we can do nothing against the Truth (in God’s Word), but only for the Truth. “

a.  Paul closes the book by reminding them one more time that his only goal was to help them grow up to matur-ity in Christ (II Cor. 13:9) and to understand that his only desire was “to build (them) up and not tear (them) down.”  

b. Let me close by encouraging you “to examine yourselves” and make sure you have Jesus in your hearts and that you are listening to the Holy Spirit and being led by the Holy Spirit.  “For as many as are led by the Holy Spirit, they are the children of God.”  Amen!